Mallory Hawk – “Caretaker”

Philadelphia-based indie rocker Mallory Hawk used to lead the Brooklyn punk band Customer, and she's played in groups like Trace Mountains and M(h)aol. Later this summer, Hawk will release Chinook, her first solo album, and it's a record worth getting excited about. We've already posted her early single "Felicity" and "Revolver." Today, she shares "Caretaker," a new song that doesn't sound much like either of those ones. It doesn't sound anything like the Caretaker, either.

"Caretaker" is a thrashy, caffeinated garage-punk ripper with a whole lot of propulsion behind it. Mallory Hawk sings it in an acerbic deadpan sneer that builds into a yelp while big, fast riffs explode all around her. Here's how she describes the song in a press release:

This song is about rejecting my frantic feminine urge to keep everything "chill" and avoid domestic conflicts. People have always relied on me (and other women) to be more responsible and "better at" domestic tasks. My whole life, I’ve always been driven to just get a task done myself instead of asking for help. It’s a complicated push and pull, enjoying my nurturing spirit and the fear that people are taking advantage of it...

It’s the only song I was precious about in the studio. My Logic demo had the exact zany egg-punk energy and simplicity I was looking for. We added a little more lead guitar, but that was it. I wanted it to feel like the song was bubbling over until it burst, so I kept pushing for it to feel more and more distorted until it burst at the end.

Check it out below.

Chinook is out 7/31.